Smarty Pants…. not really.

Thinking I had scored a major victory at my favorite thrift store with a pair of chocolate brown capri pants, I sauntered to the sewing machine for a minor quick fix. These were TOTALLY cute capris with little buttons and tabs on the pockets and cute twill tape ties at the bottom of each leg. One glance and I figured out why the previous owner had sadly parted with these adorable pants. The wide elastic in the back of the waist band had flipped and to the untrained eye appeared to be stuck in that position. But no.

Having taken self-taught home-ec sewing for 13 years before leaving home (Okay, my mom did initially show me how to sew forward, backwards and zig zag on the ancient Sears machine), the necessary remedy for the brown capris took a few straight pins and some determination. Seriously, even with the thread change on the machine to a delicious chocolate color, the entire process took fifteen minutes.

Proud did not even begin to explain my feelings of accomplishment. Waltzing into my closet, I pulled on my new favorite pants, buttoned the waist, slid the zipper in place and unsuccessfully tugged on the brown twill tape that circled the waist. It seemed to be stuck. There was five inches sticking out on the right side and 14 inches sticking out on the left side. What in the world? Tug tug. No go. Then I realized, in all of my smarty-pants-ness I had flipped the elastic and stitched not only the elastic in place but also the draw string for the waist. Bummer dude.

I have yet to remedy the situation. I simply tie them really far to the right in a teeny bow and tuck ten inches of twill tape inside the waistband of the pants. Honestly, it would only take five minutes to pull out my stitches but I simply haven’t done it. I keep tying the miniature bow and hiding the leftovers, hoping no one will see what a mess I made of my new almost favorite pants.